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Phoenix Coldon, a junior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has been missing since Dec. 18, 2011. Phoenix was last seen in the driveway of the family's home at about 3 p.m.

The Coldon family lost their life savings and their home because of a cruel hoax that led to a false lead in the disappearance of their daughter.

Please take a moment and let Phoenix's family know you care. Please CLICK HERE and read about the case of missing Phoenix Coldon

Current Argus Newspaper Articles

Hi: I have been following this story Since I Moved To Carlsbad in 75. I have read all the info I could find, But I never got to see the 2003 expose in the current anguish can you email to me.

I'm sorry to say I can not email those articles to you. Main reason....would probably be sued...and second it is to huge to email. Sorry. You can go to the Carlsbad Public Library and find it....just go and ask for the archive newspapers...hopefully they will have them there. I believe it was on March 16, 2003. Staff Writer: Dawn Bowen. Sunday Edition.

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Priest information

Originally Posted by Cubby

Have you tried contacting the rectory for St. Edwards to ask who was there as priests in 60-62?

hth and as always, keeping your sisters case in my prayers.

Cubby

No ....I haven't tried to contact the Rector's office....when I was a kid we were so scared of that place! It meant someone was in trouble....strange how one remember things.
I guess since I'm almost 61 yrs. old I should be way past that stage of my life! Thanks for the information.

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Thank You

Glad you mentioned this, Bobbi because every time I see or hear of an old case being solved, I think why not Mattie and Patty's case?

A 32 year old case was just solved in Austin. Read about it last week. Again, it made me wonder why it couldn't be this case.

Two precious little girls lost, and nothing. Being from Texas, I've read the story of the law enforcement officer, now in his 80s who has dedicated his life to finding the killer of Carla Walker, and I have to ask myself, where is the LEO in NM who has that kind of dedication to finding Mattie and Patty's murderer? If he or she is out there, he or she needs to speak up! And yes, I know, not every murder gets solved or is solvable, but that pronouncement can't be made until every last stone is turned.

Cases get solved because someone cares, plain and simple, someone who won't take no for an answer, someone who is dedicated and courageous, and willing to go many extra miles to see justice prevail or if failing that to find the answers for the victims' families.

If a person's a LEO, it should be a calling, not a time card that gets punched.
Some days it seems that who killed Mattie and Patty must be of no more importance to some in NM law enforcement than who won what sports game. Surely, this can't be. Surely there is someone out there in law enforcement who can make a difference, someone who can empathize with Anne's unending search for justice for Mattie and Patty. If Anne has become cynical, it's not Anne that's to blame! She's a victim of this terrible murder herself, and anyone in ECSO guilty of blaming Anne needs to reexamine their thoughts, and their attitude to this case.

Someone or someones are guilty of this crime. It doesn't matter if they are still living or are now dead. Someone knows who committed this crime. It is still your job, NM LEOs to find out who that person or those persons are, and get them to tell what they know. And if you don't think it's your job, if you don't give a damn, then get off the force. You know if this applies to you. Also, please know I CAN understand if you originally became a LEO thinking you could make a difference, and time and bureaucracy have gotten in the way of that, but you really can't afford to let it color who you are now or depression will be your only outcome. I also know you are overworked and underpaid, and while that's true, it's not an excuse. My hope for 2011 is that LEOs will recognize the difference between criminals and victims' families and treat them differently. This I ask at the very least.

Murder never goes away, so neither should the remaining living victims of a crime, nor should they be blamed for asking what's being done to solve their case.

It's also not enough to say this case has been turned over to VICAP. Where's the proof of that, the letter to them, and their acknowledgment that they received it. Show Anne the proof that VICAP is working on this case.

Justthinkin thank you for the comments and support of getting this case solved....I just hope Eddy County Sheriff's Office or some other law enforcement department reads this. I emailed the captain of the ECSO and asked him if he had heard anything from the VICAP group this past week and he finally answered my questions yesterday.....NO...he hasn't heard anything. Which isn't what I wanted to hear...but he says he will try and contact the group and ask 'how's the case going' . He also stated NO ONE has come into the office and talked with them about the case as well. My problem with that is ....doesn't law enforcement officers go out and talk with the people ....anymore? I guess I'm just
blown away by the way they do or don't find out about cases now. If someone says something....to the deputies...it's just hearsay....well hearsay does sometimes come out to be of importance....but you do have to go out and talk to the people.....not just sit in the office and wait for the individuals to come in .....
I'm not trying to be rude or hateful or anything else. I just don't understand why they can't go out in the public and just ask questions. What has happened to just talking to the public in general....I have found if you mention something about this case to individuals they usually say something....might not be important...but it might be.
Again...thanks for the continued support and the research you have done Justhinkin...and to everyone else that has helped with this case.
Mattie Catherine Restine and Patty Sue Pritz deserve JUSTICE.

You know I think you're right. I've been emailing back and forth with the captain again....once on his part actually. He doesn't say a whole lot and I do believe the thing that bothers me ....I know the VICAP Group is suppose to work along side of the sending law enforcement agency...so the ECSO should know what 's going on without having to ask questions to find out...I think that anyway. But if I criticise them or just make an off the wall statement about what I think they should know...then I'm being rude...then I have to be apologetic and have to wait on another answer.
He also told me he felt like the people were telling me one thing and saying something different to them....which I don't understand. I asked him about the people that came in to talk with them about the case. He says...no ones been in to talk about the case. I told him about several individuals that told me what they said and what the deputy said...like everything is just hearsay...nothing to go on...and that they can't just make people talk...well how in the world do they start investigating a case without talking...it's alll hearsay when it first comes out. Hearsay can lead to the other stuff.
Anyway....I'm working on writing up some articles to hopefully get published in the newspapers....this needs to go public again....big time.....in NEw Mexico. Just hope I can get it done.
Thanks for the help .....I don't know what I'd do without you people here on websleuths.

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Mattie Restine & Patty Pritz Unsolved Murder Case

Originally Posted by dotr

Sunshine 1950,I hope your forthcoming birthday is a happy one and that your wish for the truth, finally comes true!

Thank You dotr! Looking forward to celebrating my 61st birthday with family and friends. Also praying that the truth finally comes out about Mattie and Patty's murders. I know that there are a lot of people praying for this case to be solved. The girls deserve to have JUSTICE....
I wouldn't make it without all the help and of course all the prayers that have been given to the Lord for this case to be solved.

I contacted the ID shows...stolen voices...buried secrets. They told me they had producers that selected the stories for their shows...that they were sorry they couldn't take my information. So guess they don't want the public to present cases to them...anyway I guess I would say that I was shot down on this try.
Thanks for the help dotr....

Please keep working on this unsolved case...Mattie and Patty deserve to have Justice.....

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Nancy Grace show has been airing some cold cases....
Has a book/magazine ever been written about this case?Bet a nice cover with a picture of Mattie and Pattie on it, might garner some attention and provoke guilty feelings in those with some answers, but who have not been putting up their hand!

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Tv shows

Originally Posted by dotr

Nancy Grace show has been airing some cold cases....
Has a book/magazine ever been written about this case?Bet a nice cover with a picture of Mattie and Pattie on it, might garner some attention and provoke guilty feelings in those with some answers, but who have not been putting up their hand!

Dotr I emailed the Nancy Grace Show several years ago and it was the same as the others...they get there own stories and they don't answer your emails in a manner that gives one encouragement to say more to them....
I have been writing a book about this case for over eight years now...just haven't finished it yet...almost though. I don't think anyone has any guilt feelings or a conscience that is involved in this murder....they are from the devil...and I mean that with all my heart. Sorry ...but that is how I feel....In 2002...this case was re-opened and nothing has been done about it so far...even though the Eddy County Sheriff's Department could do more...but they choose to do nothing. You would think they would want to solve this case....sure would make them look great in the eyes of the citizens of Eddy County. They say the VICAP Group is working on this case...but every time I ask about the case...they tell me they haven't heard anything...they will ask and get back with me....I'm still waiting on an answer on that question.

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I think you might be right about the guilt part - we expect people to feel as we imagine we ourselves would feel, b ut they do not, because they are sleazeballs! What else can one say about the kind of person who would do that, especially to little girls...Same for anyone who knows the truth about what happened ( and I am sure there are a few) and says nothing all these years.
Hope you can hurry and finish and publish your book, just to make them nervous( if they will not feel guilty) and hopefully the attention garnered will provide the answers for the book's sequel!

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Mattie Restine & Patty Pritz Unsolved Murder Case

Originally Posted by dotr

I think you might be right about the guilt part - we expect people to feel as we imagine we ourselves would feel, b ut they do not, because they are sleazeballs! What else can one say about the kind of person who would do that, especially to little girls...Same for anyone who knows the truth about what happened ( and I am sure there are a few) and says nothing all these years.
Hope you can hurry and finish and publish your book, just to make them nervous( if they will not feel guilty) and hopefully the attention garnered will provide the answers for the book's sequel!

You know it sometimes depends on how your raised...whether or not you have a conscience or not. Most people know right from wrong...but they tend to do what they want to do to satisfy their own desires. The person(s) that killed Mattie and Patty did this because they were mad...why...I don't know...but this was a hate crime...especially against Patty. Mattie was at the wrong place at the wrong time. If you read about how their bodies were left you can figure that out. And I do believe that there is a female in this somewhere along the way...again from things I've read in the old investigative reports. But if I put some of that information on here again...I'll be in trouble. So guess I'll have to figure out a way to introduce it into my book. I've had to re-work some of the information because of that. But it will all come out. Might be after I die...but it will come out. I have a son that is just as adamant about getting the truth out.
Thank you for the comments and support. I appreciate all the help I can get.

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I was immersed in this case the other night, trying to make sense of all the potential twists and turns and apparent code of secrecy in the town, which reminded me of a recent movie entitled, Winter's Bone.
Lots of info to this case, but I was not completely clear about whether or not both girls were raped or sexually assaulted and if a good sample of a perp/s DNA was recovered from both girls.Were they found with the clothing they originally wore and if so ,in what condition was it found.
Bothering me is the fact that they were shot,as my understanding is that peds.tend to strangle a victim,shooting seems too remote and passionless.Were they shot at close range ,or could it be that the girls either ran for it, or did the person in a twisted sense of fairness give them a headstart and then "hunted" them down.
It dawned on me that perhaps the town had a known pedophile ring and that is why they seem to be circling the wagons.Perhaps in a support group for victims of sex abuse, one might find someone who knows something, even though it was a long time ago...incest survivors,often hail from families where the behavior repeats itself. Obviously, I am no expert in any of these matters, but just throwing it out there .
May I ask a bit about the other girls family...
Typed this quickly, thinking aloud, please forgive any errors, or anything inappropriate.

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Mattie Restine & Patty Pritz Unsolved Murder Case

Originally Posted by dotr

I was immersed in this case the other night, trying to make sense of all the potential twists and turns and apparent code of secrecy in the town, which reminded me of a recent movie entitled, Winter's Bone.
Lots of info to this case, but I was not completely clear about whether or not both girls were raped or sexually assaulted and if a good sample of a perp/s DNA was recovered from both girls.Were they found with the clothing they originally wore and if so ,in what condition was it found.
Bothering me is the fact that they were shot,as my understanding is that peds.tend to strangle a victim,shooting seems too remote and passionless.Were they shot at close range ,or could it be that the girls either ran for it, or did the person in a twisted sense of fairness give them a headstart and then "hunted" them down.
It dawned on me that perhaps the town had a known pedophile ring and that is why they seem to be circling the wagons.Perhaps in a support group for victims of sex abuse, one might find someone who knows something, even though it was a long time ago...incest survivors,often hail from families where the behavior repeats itself. Obviously, I am no expert in any of these matters, but just throwing it out there .
May I ask a bit about the other girls family...
Typed this quickly, thinking aloud, please forgive any errors, or anything inappropriate.

Mattie and Patty were both shot in the head at close range...they think it was a .38 cal. I personally feel like this was a body dump...not the place where they were killed. Again my own thoughts ...because of things that I've learned over the past years of my own investigation. The old investigation (1961) said it was hard to tell if Patty was sexually abuse...but they really thought she was. Mattie supposedly not...but I have questions about that....some I have asked...but they have never answered the questions I have asked about that. Mattie had her clothes on...Patty was nude...
DNA testing was done on Mattie's clothes...which did have some semen on them...but again the reports are vague...and again....things have been said that makes me think they aren't telling me the truth about the test results. I have personally tried to get the tests results from the lab that did the tests...but they will not release them to me.
Patty had an older sister...but she has died since this case was re-opened in 2003. She has several half sisters...and a brother. Patty's family has supported this investigation...especially one of her step sisters.
Hope I've answered some of your questions. Thanks for asking and posting your thoughts.

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Close range?B******! Sorry, I just had to express that.So how can this person/s keep going on with their life and not be consumed with guilt and self-disgust and the need to unburden themselves to a confidante?Although there seems to have been several potential suspects,has there ever been the suspicion, that there was someone (like a serial killer) or a besotted or even jealous female classmate, who went completely under the radar for this?
Someone too drunk to be certain whether or not they participated and therefore not eaten by guilt?
One would hope that the whole of Carlsbad would rise up and demand the DNA results, besides with rapidly advancing technology,who knows what else can be gleaned from the evidence!

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Mattie Restine & Patty Pritz Unsolved Murder Case

Originally Posted by dotr

Close range?B******! Sorry, I just had to express that.So how can this person/s keep going on with their life and not be consumed with guilt and self-disgust and the need to unburden themselves to a confidante?Although there seems to have been several potential suspects,has there ever been the suspicion, that there was someone (like a serial killer) or a besotted or even jealous female classmate, who went completely under the radar for this?
Someone too drunk to be certain whether or not they participated and therefore not eaten by guilt?
One would hope that the whole of Carlsbad would rise up and demand the DNA results, besides with rapidly advancing technology,who knows what else can be gleaned from the evidence!

Dotr... I've asked that same question over and over ...over the years...how could someone live with knowing who killed the girls and not come forward. But again there are so many people that aren't born with a conscience...so I guess that has to be the answer. I hope and pray each day that someone will come forward and share what they know....maybe even part of the information would help. I have asked several people that grew up with Patty and this one particular suspect to come forward and just tell what they know...but it hasn't happen yet. When the family member came forward...( the suspects family) and told the investigator the information they knew...it was pretty much pushed under the rug...especially after the investigator retired in 2004. I don't think the law enforcement agencies want to solve this case. That's just how I feel...I'm still waiting on an answer to my last question ...regarding if the VICAP Group has let them know how the case is going. Still no answer from the captain in charge.
I haven't ever been told anything about a female friend that might have killed the girls...but there were some others who thought maybe a female family member may have killed the girls...but I just can't see that myself. And I'm pretty sure they checked that out pretty good. But again who knows.
The person that was identified in the 2003 re-opened investigation is the person I believe that killed Mattie and Patty. But I don't think he did it alone.

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Somehow, I also think this was done by more than one person ...although that would mean two or more people keeping quiet. Let's just say, if someone had a spouse involved, it might be easier to keep the secret until, there is a breakup or the spouse becomes afraid for themselves.Maybe time is an ally it some cases...

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Mattie Restine & Patty Pritz Unsolved Murder Case

Originally Posted by dotr

Somehow, I also think this was done by more than one person ...although that would mean two or more people keeping quiet. Let's just say, if someone had a spouse involved, it might be easier to keep the secret until, there is a breakup or the spouse becomes afraid for themselves.Maybe time is an ally it some cases...

I just don't see how one person could keep two young, strong girls down by himself. Unless he killed Mattie right off. Then he molested Patty and then killed her...then he went and dropped the bodies off. I know Mattie would had fought ...and I don't see her just standing around while this sick person done what he did to Patty. He had to have killed one of them before the other. And if he didn't molest Mattie (like the sheriff's dept thinks) then he killed her first or he had someone hold her....just my thinking.
Oh... I think the ex-wife has already told the correct story. But to deaf ears now. I do believe this lady knew what she was talking about.
And I do hope someone finds out the truth in that family and does the right thing by Mattie and Patty. That is what I pray for everyday.